


(Out Here Is) Wondrous, But Not for the Timid

by jockvillagersonly



Category: Star Trek, 沙海 | Tomb of the Sea (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei
Genre: (In keeping with Li Cu's canon backstory), Alternate Universe - Space, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Claustrophobia, Dad!Wu Xie and the adoption papers burning a hole in his pocket, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Li Cu and his unending desire to be Left Alone, M/M, More tags may be added as relevant, Pretty much all of the relationships are, Space Shenanigans, Trafficking of sentient beings, Warnings in later chapters for:
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:00:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29795727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jockvillagersonly/pseuds/jockvillagersonly
Summary: Wu Xie smiles, batting his eyelashes winningly: “Don’t think of this askidnapping, Li Cu. Think of it as an exciting internship in deep space! Sure, you aren’t going to get paid, and, yeah, you can’t leave. But is that really any different from a run-of-the-mill position you could pick up planetside, hm?”Yes,Li Cu wants to yell,Those two things are, in fact, VERY different!---Or: Li Cu, quite against his will, gets recruited onto theSS Wushanjuon its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and, he’s pretty sure, to boldly annoy space-phobic young men.
Relationships: Bai Haotian/Su Nan, Li Cu & Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie & Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling
Comments: 17
Kudos: 34
Collections: DMBJ but in ☆SPACE☆ (aka: the Star Trek AU)





	(Out Here Is) Wondrous, But Not for the Timid

**Author's Note:**

> I am so excited to have you all along on this wild ride with me! This is my first AU piece (and first intentionally multi-chapter piece), so thank you in advance for your patience.
> 
> If you want to know more about the Star Trek universe this is set in, check out the [Character Guide](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29775375).
> 
>  _Chapter Warnings:_  
>  \- Reference to underage (though not by Chinese laws) alcohol consumption  
> \- The aging up of a character who is a minor in canon; please see end notes for details  
> \- Canon-typical kidnapping; please review the summary for a general gist

_Jesus_ , Li Cu is never, ever, ever drinking chech'tluth again. **_Ever_**.

_Yes_ , he knows he says this every time he wakes up with that particularly sticky, throbbing hangover so unique to the Klingon brew, and _yes_ , he knows the promise has never stuck before. But, goddamnit, he _really means it_ this time. No buzz is worth a morning-after headache so bad that it feels like his head is submerged underwater, his ears almost ringing with a metallic hum. Li Cu shakes his head, blearily, hoping to drive off whatever leftover fogginess is causing the faint buzzing to reverberate through his ear drums. 

Eyes still pressed closed (because if he keeps them shut tight, it’s almost like this terrible, horrible, entirely-his-fault mess of a day hasn’t actually started), Li Cu takes in a deep, open-mouthed breath, grimacing nearly instantly; _ugh_ , he must have forgotten to brush his teeth last night before collapsing into bed. The drunken fuzz in his mouth tastes almost like the recycled air from his nightmares, landing on his tongue with that slight sour tang so particular to starships. God, just how drunk was he last night? He doesn’t remember ever having a hangover this visceral, and Li Cu has been downing shots of Andorian ale since he was old enough to pick the lock on his father’s liquor cabinet.

Groaning, Li Cu uses a frankly enormous amount of effort to extricate his hand from the bunched up sheets he’s twisted around in, and flops the loose appendage haphazardly over his nightstand to check the time on his clunky, outdated padd, retrofitted with bits and pieces he’d scavenged from nearby junkyards to include a projected holo screen. He frowns, slightly, as his hand keeps brushing through empty air. Fuck, he wasn’t drunk enough to actually go home with any of the Klingons he was fleecing, was he? 

Not that he had anything against Klingons! A year living on Halka[1] has made Li Cu quite flexible in his preferences. It is just that Li Cu has a personal rule to not sleep with someone he had been actively conning money from earlier in the evening. It had only taken one disastrous night, not long after he had been kicked out by his father and landed in the streets, for Li Cu to learn that mixing business with pleasure was a bona fide strategy for getting your ass handed to you when you weren’t even wearing clothes to cover it. 

So no, Li Cu is pretty sure he had not gone home with any of those Klingons. Annoyed and disoriented, he cracks a single eye open, before immediately shooting into a seated position ( _fuck, ow, bad move Li Cu_ , he thinks, too late, his stomach sloshing uncomfortably violently within him), previously closed eyes widening impossibly round in shock. 

That is **not** the ceiling of his shoebox apartment, conveniently located deep in the Halka slums. 

Scratch that, that is not the ceiling of **any** apartment on Halka, slums or otherwise. 

Li Cu is staring up at what is, undeniably the metal ceiling of a starship. Li Cu pauses -- one second dragging into another, then into 10 seconds -- before he promptly rolls over and heaves up the contents of his stomach all over the pristine floor. Thoughts spinning wildly, for a moment all Li Cu can think clearly is this: _he is never, ever drinking chech'tluth again!_

* * *

Li Cu is so caught up in his retching that he actually misses the quiet pad of footsteps heading towards him, meaning it is a complete surprise when he hears a cheerful, “Oh, you’re awake!” Years of hypervigilance have Li Cu jerking reflexively at the unexpected sound, the sharp movement unsettling his fragile stomach even more and leading to a few extra (though thankfully dry) heaves. There’s a tsking sound, and then, “You hold your liquor well when you’re drinking, but it seems the same can’t be said for the morning after.” 

Li Cu looks up from where he is clutching the side of the bed frame with white-knuckled hands, managing to peer through the hazy cloud of shock, fear, and leftover alcohol obscuring his vision. His bleary eyes land on a man in what appears to be a casual, high-necked tee and loose black pants -- neither of them immediately pinging Li Cu as regulation standard -- standing just outside the mess he’s made on the ground. 

...though, that’s not really the _ground_ , is it? Because Li Cu is on a starship. A tiny tin can hovering _in_ _space_. Li Cu can feel his heartbeat starting to pick up speed, the whooshing in his ears overtaking the tinny metallic hum of a starship in flight, as where he has woken up truly begins to sink in. Li Cu has learned how to handle some enclosed spaces planetside; he’s had to wiggle his way out of a few both literally and metaphorically tight spots in his career as a card shark. Starships, however, are a completely different matter.

The mere thought of narrow corridors and portholes, false prophets that open onto nothing but the uninhabitable dark wildness of space, makes Li Cu’s skin crawl, a million ants on parade. This is why Li Cu has stayed on Halka -- **_Halka,_ ** a planet whose only claim to fame _is being a backwater_ \-- for so long. After he had to drink himself into a stupor to survive the stowaway journey there, he made the firm and imminently logical decision to put off interstellar travel for as long as possible. Ideally, forever. 

Unfortunately, however, it seems that his well thought out decision to stay put has been found wanting, if his unlucky and unexpected return to star travel is any indication. Even more unfortunately, perhaps because of the lingering effects of last night’s alcohol, Li Cu misses the warning signs he has learned to associate with an incoming panic attack. By the time he realizes that his fingertips are tingling, it’s too late. Within moments, he can feel his breath coming out in wheezing, hitched gasps, though the sensation is muted as though transmitted through layers of fogged up cellophane.

Li Cu spares one final moment to think, as his brain is rapidly enveloped in cotton, that he doesn’t even know why he’s **_here_**.

* * *

It could be seconds, minutes, or even hours later when Li Cu finally feels his mind begin to land, filtering slowly back into his body from its prior position soaring far above him (just as _he is soaring far above solid land_ \-- oh, there go his lungs again). Li Cu does his best to modulate his breathing, pausing on the inhale and slowly whooshing out on the exhale, twitching his fingers slightly as feeling returns in fits and starts. 

As more of his awareness starts to percolate through, Li Cu gradually realizes that someone has pressed his head between his legs and is rubbing a soothing, mindless pattern along the back of his neck. For a wild, too-long moment, Li Cu thinks he is back at _home_ \-- wherever or whenever that was, his mother’s soft fingers carding through the fuzzy hair on his nape.

But -- no, that’s not right. Li Cu hasn’t been back to Norkan in years; it’s been longer still since he felt anything remotely close to a sense of safety when his eyes were closed. The sensation of calm shatters, and Li Cu feels himself start to jerk upright. Li Cu mentally curses himself for the slip; he knows better, he knows, the knowledge engraved in the tendons clinging to his bones, that he lost whatever hope someone like him could have for a home the moment his mother -- suitcase in hand, back straight and confident, hair swishing in her ponytail -- turned the corner without a backwards glance. 

(When he was younger, Li Cu thought maybe she was afraid to see how the apartment sagged further inwards with every step she took, rot creeping up the walls and shadows snaking further along the floor. Now, he wonders if she simply did not care to waste any more memories on them. On him.) 

Before his head can snap fully upright, however, the soothing hand at his neck turns vice-like, trapping him in his forward position. A voice murmurs placatingly in his ears, all honey and sweetness -- but Li Cu can feel violence in those fingers and vulnerability in the curve of his spine, and he immediately feels his joints lock themselves into rigid stiffness. Surprisingly, at this, the fingers retract immediately from their position on his neck. Li Cu blinks, startled at the release, and shifts his head slightly to the left to take in the person beside him. 

“Whoa, kid, take it easy! Your breathing still isn’t quite down to normal,” and the man looks genuinely concerned, but Li Cu can already feel a scowl forming, his eyebrows drawing together, because -- _kid?!_ He lets his mouth snap open, ready to give this (floppy haired and _highly suspicious_ ) stranger a telling off, but any such plans are quickly diverted by a sudden return of nausea that has Li Cu folding back over. 

The stranger chuckles, and Li Cu _hates_ him, his blood almost boiling with it. He hates the other man’s solid presence. He hates the pleasant tone of his laugh, like Li Cu isn’t the butt of the joke. He hates how the other man still hasn’t stopped tracing grounding symbols into Li Cu’s skin. And Li Cu hates, most of all, how he can feel his own traitorous body, limbs still turned to jelly and heart palpitating just off kilter, leaning into the warmth next to him. 

Seeming to realize that Li Cu isn’t going to be the one to start talking (or, perhaps, just concerned that if Li Cu _does_ start talking, it won’t be words but rather more vomit coming out), the other man sets about explaining that he found Li Cu passed out drunk at the local bar and, unsure where else to take him, brought him onboard. 

Which is how Li Cu learns that he is not only on a starship, but in fact on a starship _headed into deep space._ For the next _month_. 

Li Cu really does choke this time, neck cracking in his haste to turn towards this infuriating man (Wu Xie, he had introduced himself, a name that Li Cu has decided could not be any less fitting for someone who kidnaps **real** innocents from their beds[2]) _._ Unfortunately, it seems Li Cu has said that last bit aloud, his brain-to-mouth filter characteristically offline when he gets frustrated, because Wu Xie is suddenly laughing loudly, a large smile stretching across his face. 

Li Cu does not trust that smile. In fact, Li Cu is beginning to think that smile exclusively precedes its wearer saying and doing things Li Cu will absolutely hate. He makes sure to frown at the other man in response. Wu Xie’s grin only lights up even brighter. 

Wu Xie bats his eyelashes winningly: “Don’t think of this as _kidnapping_ , Li Cu. Think of it as an exciting internship in deep space! Sure, you aren’t going to get paid, and, yeah, you can’t leave. But is that _really_ any different from a run-of-the-mill position you could pick up planetside, hm?” 

_Yes,_ Li Cu wants to yell, mentally taking back every kind thought he just had about this insufferable man, _Those two things are, in fact, VERY different!_

God, Li Cu wants to kick the other man’s ass. Or maybe his own ass, for getting caught up in this situation. Maybe he’ll kick Wu Xie’s ass, then throw himself out of a nearby airlock. Li Cu nods, decisively, in his mind. That should do it. 

Li Cu is pulled from his (very satisfying) thoughts of violence by Wu Xie carrying on, charm still turned up to 10, “We’re heading into uncharted territory, and you know as well as I do that there are rarely any Federation vessels in Halka. Even if you sent out an SOS, there wouldn’t be anyone around to hear you, and definitely no one willing to pick up an escape pod for free,” Li Cu feels his eyes narrowing because _is Wu Xie threatening him?_ , “So why not kick back and enjoy a month-long cruise! Think of it as a vacation.” 

Li Cu is about to snap an angry reminder that people can generally, you know, _choose_ their own vacations, but Wu Xie doesn’t give him any time to get a word in, blithely continuing, “And I promise, when we return to Halka in a month, I will drop you off safely, all limbs intact! You’ll be able to dive right back into your usual hobbies -- like, say, illegally rigging poker games or something. Just a random and utterly non-specific example! It’s not like I, a ship captain who works closely with a bunch of law-abiding Federation folks who generally frown on such things, would know anything at all about _that_.” 

...yeah, Li Cu was right not to trust that smile one bit. How does Wu Xie even _know_ that much about him? Wu Xie is not painting a pretty picture for Li Cu’s potential escape, and even he, for all his dogged determination, can tell when he has lost. _It’s just a month_ , he consoles himself. He’s built himself back up from bigger losses. Hell, he’s built himself up out of **_nothing_**. 

Unfortunately for Li Cu, his mouth has always run faster than his brain and been twice as unwilling to give up, which is why he finds himself muttering anyway, clammy forehead resting against his cool palms, “Fine, _fuck_ , I get it. You win. I’ll zip up and shut up. Fucking _asshole_.” (Admittedly, Li Cu meant for that last bit to be silent, but it seems his-brain to-mouth filter has taken the day off. It bears repeating: _never, ever drinking chech'tluth again._ )

Wu Xie’s eyes flicker, something nameless and dark floating for a moment within them. The shadow is gone almost as soon as it appears, replaced by what seems to be the man’s characteristic twinkle, but Li Cu swallows down any more follow up questions all the same. He has spent long enough with violent men to know when to hold his tongue. 

The older man boisterously clasps a hand on his shoulder, seemingly ignoring Li Cu’s outburst, and smiles widely once more: “Let’s introduce you to the crew!”

* * *

The _SS Wushanju_ turns out to be an Antares-class freighter, perhaps the most common type of warp-capable vessel accessible to civilians within Federation space. As soon as they step out into the hallway, Li Cu can feel his brain revving into gear -- this time, powered by curiosity rather than fear. Although Li Cu has spent time on freighters of this class before, his stays were rarely sober; plus, the wide variety of specifications encompassed within the class meant that no two Antares ships were wholly alike. 

At the sight of some exposed wiring on a nearby panel, seemingly in the middle of repairs, Li Cu feels his fingers twitch, itching for a wrench. He has always loved engineering -- loved the way he can put back together what he takes apart, loved the way he can get lost in a tangle of wires for hours, loved the way that everything else falls into sepia-toned background noise. However, Li Cu’s father had... _effectively_ made it known that he found Li Cu’s tinkering far more annoying than useful, and getting kicked out had left Li Cu with little time or money to pursue his hobby. Sure, he upgraded his padd and did small modifications here and there for neighbors, but Li Cu would hardly consider himself skilled -- and certainly in nothing as intricate (and, Li Cu was pretty sure, _highly illegal_ ) as the work he could pick out on this ship. 

Li Cu only realizes that he had craned his neck completely sideways and around, wholly distracted, when he trips slightly into Wu Xie, who had paused to glance back at him with a slightly knowing tilt to his smile. Chagrined, Li Cu quickly schools his features back into studied nonchalance, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. Li Cu mentally kicks himself, suppressing a scowl; he knows better than to show himself so easily, and he was stupid to get caught up in the shiny novelty of the _Wushanju_ ’s glorious underbelly. 

Li Cu is so caught up in his thoughts that he fails to notice the person walking towards him until he is running smack dab into them, a sharp curse wheezing its way out of his chest at the impact. Dazedly shaking his head, Li Cu opens his mouth to apologize, but the words trip to a stop on his tongue as he finally notices his victim’s distinctive forehead ridges. The other man -- or, Li Cu mentally corrects, the other _Romulan_ , because that’s what this alien is. A _Romulan_. On a _Federation ship_. Li Cu feels slightly unhinged at the realization -- pats himself down carefully, seemingly unbothered by Li Cu’s gaping shock. Within moments and in a scarily impressive display of professional efficiency, the Romulan has readjusted the sound dampeners around his ears, nodded slightly to his captain, sent a disparaging look at where Li Cu is still sprawled on the floor, and continued on his way down the hall. 

The entire exchange, from impact to departure, takes maybe a minute. In the silence that follows, the click of the Romulan’s heels fading into nothing, Li Cu finds himself wondering just what kind of ship he has ended up on. Li Cu may have no love lost for his home planet of Norkan[3], but he still grew up swaddled in bloody stories of massacre at Romulan hands, his pacifier dipped in the sharp and tangy scent of smoke.

Who exactly is Wu Xie, to have a legendary scourge of the Federation so peacefully and willingly in his crew?

Li Cu eyes the captain’s retreating back, Wu Xie’s shoulders slumped in a purposefully relaxed slope, and feels his suspicious nature bubble back up to the surface. Wu Xie might claim to be a run-of-the-mill freighter, running cargo to a new colonial outpost with a hapless Li Cu casually along for the ride, but Li Cu Is getting the distinct and sinking feeling that there is more to this trip than meets the eye. His fingers clench, knuckles whitening reflexively at his sides, his body tuning itself to fight or run or both as the most obvious question hits him square in the face:

Why would Wu Xie insist on bringing him, of all people, aboard the _Wushanju_? 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this! Special thanks to folks in the DMBJ Space Discord for their feedback, encouragement, and overall wonderful existences. 
> 
> I have never attempted to write or plot a multi-chapter fic before, so I appreciate your grace and patience with me on this journey :) I welcome any and all feedback! 
> 
> **Note on Li Cu’s age:** In this AU, Li Cu is 20 at the start of the fic and was kicked out by his dad when he turned 18. There is no explicit sexual content involving Li Cu in this story, but there are some references to implied past sexual experiences. These all occurred when Li Cu was of a consenting and majority age. If you’re uncomfortable with that, please skip from the first line until “He is never, ever drinking chech'tluth again!”
> 
>  **Acknowledgments** : Title is taken from a line by Q in the TNG episode “Q Who?”: "It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid.”
> 
>  **Footnotes:**  
>  1I chose to have Li Cu living on Halka because it is (a) a known backwater with few Federation visits, validating Wu Xie's explanation of how unlikely it is other ships would be around to assist Li Cu post-kidnapping, and (b) the only M-class habitable planet in its system, making it believable that Li Cu would stay there rather than risk interstellar travel again. [Here](https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Halka) is the page about Halka on the Star Trek wiki! [return to text]
> 
> 2In case you're new to the fandom or (like me!) not Chinese speaking, the name "Wu Xie" is a homophone in Chinese for the word "innocent."[return to text]
> 
> 3Li Cu's home planet of Norkan was the site of [a massacre by the Romulans](https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Norkan_Campaign) during a period of conflict between the Romulans and the Federation. Although Li Cu is at least a few generations, removed from the attack, it is likely he would have grown up hearing about it; the assault left a deep and lasting scar on the citizens of Norkan.[return to text]
> 
> I think those two are the only Star Trek things that may need additional explanation beyond what is in the fic, but if something was unclear, please let me know! :)


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